What now?

[easttntrapper]

I need some ideas on how to get my year old pup hunting coon. I have only took her 4 times and I aint expecting much. She hunts just dont go far. The first night she caught a possum on the ground. The next 3 I have heard her open up on each outing. I think she is mainly getting on rabbits cuz there are a ton of them around the field edges. She aint treeing. She just runs off alittle ways and I eventually here her bark a few times. She is not one to bark for no reason. I believe she is running around and finding a hot track and moving it silently till she sees it and starts barking. I think I need to help her concentrate on coon. How can I do this. I have no other dogs to hunt with. If I did I dont think it would do much good. I have had other hunters dogs tree 60 yards away. She dont even look there way. One one time I did go with someone else she went one way while the other dog went his and treed. How do you even show a dog like this what to do?

[ridgerunner]

Live trap a coon. Let her work the cage a bit just before dark. Read her actions, if she's excited, pawing at the ground, biting at the cage. Just at dark let the coon go into a field far enough from some trees so she'll have to track it a ways. Mark the spot where you let it go, and don't leave the cage there. The key is not to let her see where you let it go at. wait about ten to fifteen minutes and walk her to the field away from where you let it go. Let her work the field looking for that track, it'll be the hottest track in the field. If you need to help direction her towards the area you let it go do that. As soon as she hits the track you should know, that'll tell you everything. If she's silent on track, how hard she'll move a hot track, and if and when she tree's or catches, if she locates and tree/bay barks. Hope this helps. Live trapping coon is very easy so you should be able to get on in a few nights.

[easttntrapper]

Thanx! Did what you said everything she did was silent. Barked at it in the cage then trailed and found the tree it was in. She stood against it smelling the tree but never barked. Guess I will hunt her more to see if she starts opening up. Also i couldnt resist I showed my 7 month plott the coon too. It was her first and she went crazy. Sorry it took so long to get back but got bit by a tick last week and was bad sick for the past week.